Aquaponics

Image courtesy of BackyardAquaponics.com

Aquaponics is the growing of fish and plants together in a closed recirculating system. The fish are housed and fed in an appropriate tank and the water is circulated to growing areas for a very diverse crop of vegetables, herbs, flowers and other plants. The plants, helped by beneficial bacteria, effectively clean the water by utilizing the nutrients excreted by the fish and the clean water is then recirculated to the fish.

Aquaponincs Simplified Diagram

Very little land area, water or electricity is required to operate an aquaponics system. Research from Hawaii indicates that:
* Aquaponics uses a small fraction of the water that traditional farming does.
* Aquaponics is energy-efficient: current systems use one-tenth of the energy conventional farming does.
* Aquaponics has eight to ten times more vegetable production in the same area and time.
* Aquaponics is fully scalable from indoor systems to backyard family systems to full commercial systems.